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Sept. 15,1925.

' 1,553,998 W. A. FRENCH RACE aonsm STARTI'NGGATE APPARATUS Filed'May 17, 1924 I -45 FIG. .1.

4.4 05 A FRENCH.

Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

WALLAGE A. FRENCH, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.

RACE-HOESE-STARTING-GATE. APPARATUS.

Application filed lfiiay 17,1924. Serial No. 713,955,

Tov all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLAonA. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Diego, in the county of San Diego and Stateof California, have invented a certain new and useful Race-Horse-Starting- GateApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a race horse starting gate apparatus, and" the objects of my invention are: first, to provide an apparatus of thisclass whereby the gate or barrier, against which horses are adapted to stand, may be easily and quickly shifted out of the way when. desiring to start the horses in a race; second, to provide an apparatus of this class-whereby the horsesbearing against the barrier in any direction will not distort the apparatus or trip the same; third, to provide novelly constructed carriage means for shifting the flexible barrier; fourth, to

provide novel. latch and release or trip means for the bELlTlGl, fifth, to provide a novel means in connection with the flGXlble barrier whereby, the same is automatically separated when; too much; force is exerted against the same by the horses; sixth, to provide a. race horse starting gate apparatus which may be easily and quickly folded when desired, for transporting the same; seventh, to provide as a whole a novelly constructed race horse starting gate apparatus, and eighth, to provide. an .apparatus of this class which is simple and economical of construction, durable, efficient, rapid and reliable in its action, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order.

With these and other objects. inview, as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and. portions, as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon, which form a part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 is, a side elevational view of one side of my starting gate apparatus positioned on one side of a racetrack, against and on the one fence surrounding thesame,

showing by dotted lines the folded positions of certain of the main members; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevational view thereof, showing the apparatus at both sides of the track; Fig. 3, is a. fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of the frame supporting the tripping mechanism, barrier carriage and other members, at oneside of the track; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view thereof: taken at 4-4 of Fig. 3f; Figy5 is another fragmentary view thereof taken, at 5- 5 of Fig. 4, and Fig.7 6 is a perpective view of the barrier, separating means secured to adjacent ends-ofthe flexible barrier member. 7

Like characters of reference refer to similar parts and portionsthroughoutthe. several views, of the drawings.

The frame members. 1, 2, 3., 4 and 5, brace members 6, 7, 8, 9 and. 10, pins 11,12 and 18, supports 14,. tie cables 15,.guys 16, tripping mechanism casing 17,. tripping member 18, rollers19-and 20,,tripping'lever 21, spring 22, pin 23, slide 24, bumper 2 5, guide 26, pulleys 27, 28 and 29, cables. 30 and 31, barrier carriage release members, 32, tension springs 33, barrier carriagesz 34, roller supports 35, rollers 36, ballbearing rollers. 37,. clevismembers. 38, bolts 39, barrier. member 40, barrier separating means 41,, pulleys, 42, cables 43, elastic members 44,, tripping, cable 45, and the pulley'46, constitute the principal parts and portions 0f. my race horse. starting; gate apparatus. 1

My starting gate apparatus consists, of two supportingu nits, one positioned at each side. of the race track, for supporting a shiftable barrier ov-erthe track. The sup-- porting frame members 1, 2,3,and 4 of each unit are. preferably built/up. of. angle iron, forming; channels." The. frame members. 1 are. supported at the upper ends of supports 14,. preferably pipe, which are preferably: secured to the upper and lower rails of, the fence F bordering therace-track, by means of tie cables 15. At the near and far ends of each frame member. 1 are. permanently secured short upright framemembe-rs2 and 3, respectively, which are braced. relatively tothe member 1 by the bracemembe-rs 6 and 7, Near the upper end of the member 2. is pivotally connected, by. means of thepin 12,

the one end of the frame member 5, which is preferably built up of a pair of small, spaced apart, oppositely disposed channels, which are provided at their outer sides with angles. The flanges of said channels extend toward each other forming partially enclosed tracks for the rollers 37, which will be described later. The upright frame member 4 is pivotally connected at its lower end intermediate the ends of the frame member 3 by means of the pin 11. Near the upper end of the member 4 are provided longitudinal slots 4 in which are adapted to be positioned the outwardly extending pins 13 at the upper or forward end of the frame member 5. The frame member 5 is held in position at its upper end against the upper end of the frame member 4 by means of the brace member 8, which may be a wire or cable and may be provided intermediate its ends with a turnbuckle. The supporting frame, as described, is braced at its near end relatively to the fence F by means of an adjustable brace member 9, and is similarly braced, at the side facing the race track, by means of the adjustable brace member 10, as shown best in Figs 1 and 2 of the draw ings. Said supporting frames are braced at their outer sides by means of guys 16.

The frame members 5, which are supported at their near ends on the short upright frame members 2 and at their far .ends at the upper ends of the frame mem here 4, are positioned diagonally in such a manner as to provide an upwardly and forwardly directed track for the barrier carriages, adapting the barrier, when released, to be shifted upwardly and forwardly from the noses of the horses positioned near the I same. At the lower inner side of one of the frame members 5 is mounted a tripping mechanism casing 17 in which are positioned a pair of rollers 19 and 20, between which is reciprocally mounted the tripping or latch member 18, which extends above the casing 17. Within said casing is pivotally mounted the tripping lever 21 in the form of a bell crank, the one end of which extends into a recess at the innerend of the member 18. The tripping member 18 is held in an outward position by means of a' I bumper 25, which is adapted to engage the forward end of the guide 26 when the former is released. At the sides of the slide member 32, which is pivotally mounted between the channels of the frame member 5.

The carriages 34 for supporting and shifting the flexible barrier member, consist of rectangular frames in which are positioned pairs ofball bearing rollers 37, which are mounted on studs 37. the carriage frames 34 are secured U-shaped roller supporting members 35 which are provided at their outwardly extended ends with rollers 36. The one arms of the bell crank members 32 are provided with hook portions 32 which are adapted to engage the rollers 36 and hold the carriages in a retracted position. To the outwardly extending arms of the carriage releasing bell crank members 32 are secured the one ends of tension springs 33, which are removably secured at their other ends to the upper ends of the frame members 2. There are provided bolts 5 which extend transversely through the frame members 5 for limiting the backward movement of the carriages 34, and which engage the upper sides of the U-shaped members 35 to prevent the same from being tilted when the flexible barrier is engaged by the horses. To the upper and lower sides of the frames of the carriages 34 are pivotally mounted the one ends of the clevis members 38 by means of bolts 39. At the inner ends of the clevis members are provided eye bolts to which are secured the ends of the flexible barrier member, which may be made of rope, cable or fabric tape.

Intermediate the ends of the barrier member or at one end thereof is positioned a barrier separating means 41, as illustrated in Fig. 6 ofthe drawings, which consists primarily of a pair of spaced apart spring members 41, with converging ends, between the converging'ends of which are adapted to be removably positioned the diverging ends of a pair of clips 41 secured together in any convenient manner. The lateral sides or edges of the clips 41 are preferably beveled so that the same may be readily inserted be tween the diverging resilient ends of the members 41". It will be noted that. when a force greater than that desired is exerted by the horses against the barrier member, the spring members 41 will be separated, permitting the members 41 to be withdrawn.

At the upper ends of the frame members 4 are revolubly mounted pulleys 42 over which extend cables 43, which are secured at their one ends to the forward ends of the frames of the carriages 34 and at their op- To the rear ends of iii positeends to the 011 9. endsof'springs or porting frames of the apparatus. It willbe noted that there are preferably provided :bumpers at the upper ends ofthe frame or track members .5 to take up the shoclro'fthe carriages when the same are released.

T he tripp ng mechanism is preferably tripped by means ofa cable 45, which extends aroundapulley '46 mounted on one of the frame members '5 cont guous .to thetrlpp11 means.

When desiring to set the barrier inv the downwardor operative position, the tension springs 33 ,at bothsides of the apparatus are preferably released at their one ends. The

carriages are then drawn backwardly until the hook portions 32 .at both sides of the apparatus are positioned overthe rollers 36,

which'holdt-he barrierparriages against the tension of the elastic 44. The springs 33 are then secured at their free. ends, as previously stated, thus setting the apparatus ready for action to release the barrier. "When the cable is pulled, the tripping member 18 on the one side of the apparatus is withdrawn, permitting the slide 24 to be pulled forwardly by the springs 33 on both sides of the apparatus. Such action of the slide releases the cables 30 and 31connected thereto, which inturn permit the carriage release bell crank members at each side of the apparatus to be tilted backwardly about their pivotal mountings by the springs 33, releasing the carriages 34. The carriages on both sides of the apparatus, being thus released, are simultaneously shifted forwardly and upwardly by the elastic members 44 on both sides of the apparatus, siifting the flexible barrier out of the way and permitting the horses stationed at the barrier to proceed.

It will be here noted that when desiring to transport the apparatus from one place to another, the same may be readily collapsed by releasing the adjustable brace member 8, raising the frame member 5 slightly, folding the upright frame member 4 downwardly and then folding the frame member 5 over the frame member 4 against the upper end of the short frame member 3, substantially as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

It is obvious from this construction, as illustrated in the drawings and disclosed in the foregoing specification, that there is provided a race horse starting gate apparatus as aimed at and set forth in the objects of the invention, and though I have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, eoinbination and arrangement, but desire to include in the scope of, my invent-ion the construction,-combination and a rangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having-thus describedmy lIlVGDtl-Glhfiflll-ftt I .claim asnew and desire to-secure by Letters Patent, 1s:

1, In an apparatu'sof the class described, apair. of spacedapart, readily fo'l dable, substantially triangular rigid frames provided with angular'trackson one of the foldable members of each frame, roller carriages mounted on said tracks, a flexible barr ier member secured-to and shiftable by said carriages, =a, 1neans -for holding and readily releasing said carriages,ancl resilient means for shifting said-carriages when released.

2.111 a race horse starting apparatus, a

pair of siaced apart frames provided'with angular tracks consisting of spaced *apart channels, carriage frames positioned between the channels of said. tracks, rollers revolubly mounted on said carriage fr-ames between saidch-annels, clevis members pivot- ,aily mounted on said carriage frames, a

flexible barrierimember secured to tlieifree ends of said clevis members, a tripping plunger means mounted near one end of one of said tracks, a longitudinal guide positioned contiguous to said tripping plunger means, a slide mounted on said guide, carriage releasing lever means pivotally mounted'contiguous to said tracks adapted to engage and hold said carriage frames, and cables connecting said slide with the carriage releasing lever means in connection with both of said tracks.

3. In a race horse starting apparatus, a pair of spaced apart frames provided with angular tracks consisting of spaced apart channels, carriage frames positioned between the channels of said tracks, rollers revolubly mounted on said carriage frames between said channels, clevis members pivotally mounted on said carriage frames, a flexible barrier member secured to the free ends of said clevis members, a tripping plunger means mounted near one end of one of said tracks, said tripping plunger means consisting of a casing, a plunger reciprocally mounted therein, rollers on opposite sides of said plunger, a bell crank pivotally mounted in said casing, the one arm thereof engaging said plunger, and a spring means adapted to force said plunger outwardly, a longitudinalguide positioned contiguous to said tripping plunger means, a slide mounted on said guide, carriage releasing lever means pivotally mounted contiguous to said tracks adapted to engage and hold said carriage frames, and cables connecting said slide with the carriage releasing lever means in connection with both of said tracks.

4. In a race horse starting apparatus, a pair of spaced apart main frames provided with angular tracks" consisting of spaced apart channels, carriage frames positioned between the channels of said tracks, rollers revolubly mounted on said carriage frames between said channels, clevis members pivotally mounted on said carriage frames, a flexible barrier member secured to the free ends of said clevis members, a tripping plunger means mounted near one end of one of said tracks, a longitudinal guide positioned contiguous to said tripping plunger means, a slide mounted on said guide, carriage releasing lever means pivotally mounted contiguous to said tracks adapted to engage and hold said carriage frames cables connecting said slide with the carriage releasing lever means in connection with both of said tracks, removable tension springs secured to said carriage releasing lever means and to said main frames, and resilient means secured to said carriages adapted to shift the same when released.

5. In a race horse starting apparatus, a pair of spaced apart frames provided with angular tracks, carriages reciprocally mounted on said tracks, a flexible barrier means connecting said carriages, means for holding and readily releasing said carriages, and trip means in connection with one of said frames adapted to trip said hold ing and releasing means.

6. In a race horse starting apparatus, a pair of spaced apart frames provided with angular tracks, carriages reciprocally mounted on said tracks, a flexible barrier means connecting said carriages, means for holding and readily releasing said carriages, trip means in connection with .one of said frames adapted to trip said holding and releasing means, a yieldable means adapted to shift said carriages when released, and a spring means in connection with said holding and releasing means adapted to shift the same when the tripping means is actu' ated.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Diego, California, this 9th day of May, 1924.

ALLAOE A. FRENCH. 

